From the outwash plains of Brooklyn to Indiana's drifted diamonds and goldIn Suspect Terrainis a narrative of the earth, told in four sections of equal length, each in a different way reflecting the three others-a biography; a set piece about a fragment of Appalachian landscape in illuminating counterpoint to the human history there; a modern collision of ideas about the origins of the mountain range; and, in contrast, a century-old collision of ideas about the existence of the Ice Age. The central figure is Anita Harris, an internationally celebrated geologist who went into her profession to get out of a Brooklyn ghetto. The unifying theme is plate tectonics-here concentrating on the acceptance that all aspects of the theory do not universally enjoy. As such,In Suspect Terrainis a report from the rough spots at the front edge of a science.

From the outwash plains of Brooklyn to Indiana's drifted diamonds and goldIn Suspect Terrainis a narrative of the earth, told in four sections of equal length, each in a different way reflecting the three others-a biography; a set piece about a fragment of Appalachian landscape in illuminating counterpoint to the human history there; a modern collision of ideas about the origins of the mountain range; and, in contrast, a century-old collision of ideas about the existence of the Ice Age. The central figure is Anita Harris, an internationally celebrated geologist who went into her profession to get out of a Brooklyn ghetto. The unifying theme is plate tectonics-here concentrating on the acceptance that all aspects of the theory do not universally enjoy. As such,In Suspect Terrainis a report from the rough spots at the front edge of a science.